Lucky duckies saved after falling down Calgary storm drain
Eight fuzzy ducklings were rescued from a precarious situation on Friday, thanks to Calgary police and workers from the City of Calgary.
The ducklings had fallen through a private catch basin in the parking lot of the AutoClean Car Wash in Midnapore, and sat quacking at the bottom as their mother stood on the asphalt above, unable to help.
Andrea Stewart works in the nearby Midnapore Business Centre, which backs onto the parking lot, and says she and her colleagues rushed into action.
"One of our tenants came out at 9:30 a.m. to advise us that we had a problem that needed to be dealt with, and then informed us that he had just seen a mama duck and approximately 10 babies walking through the parking lot behind our building, and the babies fell down into the grate."
They called 311 and some local wildlife organizations while they stood over the drain to keep an eye on the ducklings in distress.
Calgary police were the first to arrive on scene, and were able to remove the grate.
Several ducklings that had become trapped in the Calgary community of Midnapore were rescued on Friday, June 2, 2023. "It took them a full 30 minutes to get the sewer grate lifted," said Jennifer Fraser, who works in the business centre.
It was determined there were eight ducklings stuck in the cavern, all of which were desperate to be reunited with their mother.
Luckily for the ducklings, the officer on scene actually had a background in biology.
"This officer, I think he knew exactly the right thing to do," Fraser said. "There had been a lot of onlookers crowding around and I think they were scaring the mom away, but once the officer arrived, he was able to encourage (the people) to sit back, let that mama come and call to her babies and I think that's what really did the trick."
The officer lowered himself into the slender drain, and was able to pick up one duck, placing it down in the parking lot and letting it race over to its mother.
Several ducklings that had become trapped in the Calgary community of Midnapore were rescued on Friday, June 2, 2023. The officer continued to save the stranded fowl, lifting five of the eight to safety, one by one.
"We were cheering –the whole waiting room upstairs was cheering – it was definitely a happy moment."
Several ducklings that had become trapped in the Calgary community of Midnapore were rescued on Friday, June 2, 2023. The remaining three ducklings proved more difficult to liberate, as they continued to run into a pipe connected to the basin, away from their would-be rescuers.
Several ducklings that had become trapped in the Calgary community of Midnapore were rescued on Friday, June 2, 2023. Eventually, workers from the City of Calgary's water services department were able to get the final three ducklings to freedom at around 2:30 p.m., roughly five hours after the ordeal began.
Several ducklings that had become trapped in the Calgary community of Midnapore were rescued on Friday, June 2, 2023.
At that point, the mother duck was nowhere to be found, but a citizen volunteered to take the duckings to a local wildlife centre.
For more information on how to report abandoned, injured or orphaned wildlife, you can visit the City of Calgary's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.